What
do Pharaoh, J. Wellington Wimpy, and America’s youth have in
common? They all love to procrastinate. I even venture to say that we all have become
a society struggling with procrastination.
Give me a moment to explain:
Pharaoh
We
have heard the stories about Moses asking Pharaoh to let the Israelites
go. Of course Pharaoh would not, so God
sent the first plague upon Egypt: all the water (streams, rivers, pools, and
ponds) were turned to blood. This plague
lasted seven days, and then because Pharaoh would still not relent God sent the
frogs. There were swarms of frogs going
in and out of houses, into bedrooms and even onto Pharaoh’s bed! They were in their ovens, in their cooking
bowls and pots and even in the bread dough!
They also hopped onto people, their servants as well as right on Pharaoh
himself. Pharaoh called for Moses and
Aaron and asked them to beg God to take away the frogs from him and his people,
stating he would let the people go. Now
here is the part of the story that surprises me. Moses said, “dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants, and
your people, that the frogs may be destroyed from you and your houses and
remain only in the river,” (Exodus 8.) If it had been me, I would have said, “Right
now!” but Pharaoh did not say that. He
said, “Tomorrow”. Why not right away? It sounds like Pharaoh still wanted to have a
chance to work it out on his own. We
tend to want to do the same as Pharaoh with the unpleasant things of our lives,
“I’ll probably figure it out on my own by tomorrow.” Waiting until tomorrow is procrastination.
J.
Wellington Wimpy
I
enjoyed Popeye while I was growing up. I
read about his antics in the comic strips and watched them on television. One of my favorite characters was Popeye’s
best friend Wimpy. Since I love food I
guess I could always relate to him. He
loved hamburgers. I mean he REALLY loved
them, but he was also a cheapskate. He
was always saying, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." He wanted instant gratification without
having to pay the price, or at least without having to pay the price right
away. It seems very evident that society
today deals with this form of procrastination, especially when we look at how
much is bought on credit in our country.
“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday….”
Putting off paying the price is procrastination.
America’s
Youth
Young
people today have an ingrained philosophy that they do not have to “get right
with God” because they are young with long lives ahead of them. They reason that there will be plenty of time
later to “do the religious thing.” They
really have no concept of mortality, no context with which to truly understand
the finality of it, so they just do their own thing and enjoy life. I felt this way when I was a teenager, but
one night it dawned on me that I could be killed by a drunk driver and then I
would have to stand before God face-to-face.
I was not ready for that so I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Putting off becoming a believer is procrastination,
and is eternally dangerous!
“Do not boast of [yourself and]
tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs
21:7 AMP
Rich
Wilkerson once said that “Procrastination produces a nervous weariness, and in
the midst of that the devil comes in.” When
a person procrastinates, that thing they are putting off tends to hang over
them just enough to nag a little at the back of their mind. When you procrastinate long enough you become
hardened toward that nagging. Once you
have done that, it is easier to become hardened toward other things, especially
the voice of the Lord.
I
share this subject with you because I have struggled with procrastination all
my life. It was not until I asked God to
help me deal with it that I started changing.
Am I perfect? Have I
“arrived”? No, but like us all, I am a
work in progress, longing for that day when I am complete and never have that
nagging voice in the back of my mind ever again. Until then I remind myself, there is too much
to do for God’s Kingdom for me to be procrastinating, so I cry out for His
grace and get on with the work He has set before me. If you are struggling with procrastination I
encourage you to cry out to God for His grace to enable you to change. He will help you, you know, and it will be
all for His glory.
“In the day when I called, You
answered me; and You strengthened me with strength (might and inflexibility to
temptation) in my inner self.” Psalm 138:3 AMP
